The emotions between the races could never be pure; even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing in ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart.

I think it's useful to keep in mind I've been now President for over seven years and gun sales don't seem to have suffered during that time.

In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?

I wouldn't consider them acts of war, but I would consider them acts of property damage, commercial theft that are serious.

When your team loses, everybody gets deflated. And it's hard, and it's challenging.

Now, at times this issue has tended to degenerate into an 'either-or' type of debate. Either we protect our people from terror or we protect our most cherished principles. But that is a false choice. It asks too little of us and assumes too little about America.

Ours is not the first generation to understand the dire need for health reform. And I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last.